Wow, it is been a while since I sent out an update... in fact it's been so long that trying to summarise everything at this point is a little bit daunting. Last time I wrote we were in Nha Trang, Vietnam and I am now in Koh Samui, Thailand... in between here and there we have been to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane, Laos and to Bangkok, Thailand.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam was by far my least favourite Vietnamese city. The people weren't especially friendly and the city was a city like any other. However, while in HCM we did visit the Cu Chi Tunnels which was very cool. At one point we were crawling through a space so small that we had to scoot on our bums or turn around and go head first on our belly.

Leaving Vietnam wasn't very much trouble. The border crossing into Cambodia took a while (about 2 hours) but we were not hassled or anything as we had paid for a company to shuttle us across the border and take care of all that stuff. Once in Phnom Penh we wandered for about an hour trying to find somewhere to stay and eventually succumbed to the fact that we could not find anything on our own and let a tuk tuk driver take us to a place he knew. That tuk tuk driver ended up being our personal chauffeur for the next few days so it worked out well. Our guest house was right by the lake which is the cheap backpacker area.. and it was definitely different. There were lots of people offering drugs and a lot of cracked out people hanging around. Interesting place, that's for sure. Twice while walking down the street we saw someone guiding an elephant down the road... that is a strange thing to see on a normal afternoon. We only ended up having one full day in Phnom Penh so we spent the next day checking out all the sites. By far the most important two things to see and do in Phnom Penh is the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields and the S21 prison. They are a reminder of all the horrible things that went on there and of a nation that was literally crippled. I suggest that you google it if you don't know anything about the Khmer Rouge. After seeing both of those, which were quite emotionally draining, we headed to the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace is quite... royal and it was the first of it's kind that we had seen. There were a lot of temples and pagodas around the grounds and a beautiful garden. Half of the property was blocked off to the public though because the King lives there.

The next day we took the fast boat to Siem Reap down the Mekong. They called it a fast boat but I didn't expect it to go so fast! It was crazy! While on the boat we passed all sorts of traditional villages on the river's edge and had an opportunity to see how the people live which was great. You can't get more authentic then that. The kids are very happy in Cambodia, they wave at everyone that passes and are always smiling. When we arrived in Siem Reap we took a tuk tuk to the city centre with these four Vancouver guys that we had met on board. Our tuk tuk driver literally had a temper tantrum when we dropped him off and refused to take our money because we wouldn't guarantee to use him the next day for Angkor - after his behaviour there is not a chance we would even consider calling him again. That night we went to see a traditional Apsara show which is the Cambodian ballet. It was at a very expensive restaurant that we couldn't even afford to eat at but it was good to see. The dance was a lot slower than any of us had expected but it looked very traditional. In Cambodia it is considered to be a great honour to be able to dance as an Apsara dancer. The next day was our first day of the Angkor Temples. We hired a driver and guide for day one and on day two took a tuk tuk and guided ourselves. In total we visited: Bantay Sarei, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm (Tomb Raider was filmed here and it is quite cool), Ta Som, Pre Rup, and one for sunset. Each temple was unique in it's own right and it is hard to pick a favourite. The faces at the Bayon in Angkor Wat were very interesting, Angkor Wat in all it's elegance and splendor was a must see and the trees emerging from Ta Prohm were crazy. By the end of the second day we were 100% templed out. On our third full day in Siem Reap we had great intentions to visit one of the three orphanages in the area but we were told to come back at a later time and then when we returned there were contractors at the one orphanage. However, while we were in Cambodia, the four Canadian guys were handing out toys to the many many children and we were handing out suckers which the kids loved. Honestly, the kids in Cambodia are wonderful. They are happy and smiling and they are working yet they are enjoying themselves. We met this one little girl with her Mom and she knew how to count to 10 in 20 different languages! So cool! Plus, all the kids know information about multiple countries so you would tell them that you were from Canada and they would respond with "Canada. Very big country. You speak both French and English. Capital Ottawa. Population 34 million people" which we were quite impressed by.

From Siem Reap, Cambodia we flew to Luang Prabang, Laos. There wasn't a whole lot to do in Luang Prabang but they had an awesome night market and a great opportunity for day trips. We did some elephant trekking while we were in Luang Prabang and visited the Kuang Si Falls which were absolutely beautiful. The falls cascaded down multiple tiers into emerald pools. The water was a bit cold but very clear and clean. Luang Prabang is a very cute little town with all the typical temples and also a Royal Palace that housed the royal family until their exile in 1975... the royal family was never seen again.

After Luang Prabang we took a long mountainous drive to Vang Vieng - known for tubing and an all around party town. On the bus we met three guys from England, Richard, Jason and James, one girl from England, Lindsey, and a guy from Australia, Michael. We spent the next few days with the same people and even shared a room with Lindsey and then carried on to our next city with James. Vang Vieng was kind of like spring break except with tubes floating down a river. On our first full day in Vang Vieng we went on a kayaking and caving trip. It was a good mixture of land and water. We had to climb through some very small cave holes and it was very dark (the flashlight they provided sucked) and there were a lot of up and downs and places where you had to literally rock climb up places. It was a lot of fun though. The next day we went tubing. Tubing is something that you cannot fully explain without experiencing but essentially you float down the river (which was very low this time of year and we kept scraping the rock bottom with our knees and bums) and as you approach a bar they throw out a line for you to catch and if you want to visit that bar you take the line and are pulled in, if not you float on to the next bar. The bars are very close together so you could literally bounce from bar to bar which we kind of did. In addition, at each bar they have some sort of attraction like a rope swing, a zip line, a slide or a diving board. I was going to try the zip line but after seeing it knock both Lindsey and Stacey around like a rag doll I did the rope swing in an attempt to not worsen my shoulder. Our goal of the day was to be back with our tubes by 6:00pm so that we could get our full deposit back... we didn't but we tried. We got out of the water at one point and tried to hire a tuk tuk but he was waiting for more people (apparently 10 wasn't enough??) so we carried on down the river until it was so dark we couldn't see each other in the water and then got out and started walking back to town... in our bathing suits with our tubes. A tuk tuk picked us up while we walked and drove us back but we were an hour late. Oh well. The next day it was onto Vientiane.

James was taking the same route as us and joined us on the ride to Vientiane and then shared a room with us when we got there. There wasn't much in Vientiane and honestly it wasn't one of my favourite places in the country. We visited Pha That Luang thought to be the most important symbol of Laos and the temple Wat Si Saket which has a crazy number of Buddhas on the property. After we just wandered around the city taking in the many city temples and monuments.

The next day we boarded an airplane and headed onto Thailand! Thailand has been wonderful. On our first full day in Bangkok we took a day trip out to a floating market, the bridge, some war monuments, and the best part ..... TIGER TEMPLE! Tiger Temple was fantastic, we paid the extra money to hold the tigers heads and pet them and pose with all the cats. They were very soft and docile and it was a really cool experience (pictures to follow!). The next day we did another day trip, this time to Ayutthaya the Ancient City. It was cool to see but to be fair, very very similar to the Temples of Angkor from Cambodia. Still interesting to see how they lived. On the third day in Bangkok we me up with two of Stacey's friend's from home, Dave and Janina. We toured around Bangkok seeing the Grand Palace which was architecturally stunning and had a very small emerald Buddha inside the main wat. We also saw Wat Pho which is the oldest wat in Bangkok which is home to more than one thousand Buddha images and the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. Next up we took a ferry across to Wat Arun where we climbed steep steps to the top tier and had a great view of the city. That night we visited the Pat Pong district (the red light district) and then headed to Khao San road as we did every night. Street stall pad thai is delicious.

The flight to Koh Samui, where we are right now was very quick. Kelli and Glenn's place is fabulous. Right on the beach and beautiful. We wouldn't leave if we didn't have to. While here we have played badminton, gone shopping a few times, gone out on Glenn's boat, gone on a massive sail boat, last night we went to a lady boy show which was fantastic, and then today we went for authentic Thai massages, manicures and pedicures. The Thai massage was crazy because the ladies get right up on you and are pulling your limbs every direction. It felt great though and was very cheap!

We leave for Bangkok in a few days and for home on Friday. I can't believe how fast this has all gone! I'll send around the photos once I am home and have them uploaded.